RESOURCESsuch as P. Gignoux, "Sur quelques noms propres iraniens transcrits
en syriaque," in Melanges offerts au R. P. Fram;ois Graffin, Parole de
I'Orient, 6-7 (1975-76): 515-23, and "Les noms propres en moyen-
perse epigraphique," in Pad nam t yazdan, Etudes d'epigraphie, de
numismatique et d'histoire de I'Iran ancien (Paris, 1979), pp. 69-71.
The most explicit statement concerning Iranian social structure and
social issues ascribed to the Sasanian period is in M. Boyce's The
Letter of Tansar (Rome, 1968). For the inferior social status of some
Iranians and of others in early Muslim society, see D. Sourdel and
C. E. Bosworth, "Ghulam," El (2), II: 1079-84. The most sophisti-
cated treatment so far of this subject is by D. Pipes in "Mawlas: Freed
Slaves and Converts in Early Islam," Slavery and Abolition 1 (1980):
132-77, which cites the pertinent literature. The only treatment of the
Iranian diaspora in the early Islamic world, even in general terms, is
C. Cahen's, "L'emigration persane des origines de l'Islam aux Mon-
gols," in La Persia nel Medioevo, pp. 181-94.
Arabs: Natives
Compared with Aramaeans and Persians, there is a fairly extensive
literature on Arabs in Iraq. The best place to start is M. Rodinson's
updated article, "A Critical Survey of Modern Studies on Muham-
mad," in M. Swartz, tr. and ed., Studies on Islam (New York, 1981),
which reviews the literature on pre-Islamic Arabia on pages 29 to 39.
A convenient early Arabic survey is provided by the anonymous Ta'rtkh
al-'Arab qabl ai-Islam, ed. M. H. Al Yasin (Baghdad, 1379/1959),
ascribed to al-Asma' 1. The Kitab al-ishtiqaq, ed. F. Wiistenfeld (Got-
tingen, 1854) of Abii Bakr MuQ.ammad ibn al-I:Iasan (837-934) is a
compendium of information about Arab tribes. The first volume of
S. EI-'Ali'sMuhat!arat {t ta'rtkh al-'Arab (Baghdad, 1959) covers the
pre-Islamic Arabian states and bedouin life. 'u. KaQ.Q.alah's Mu'jam
qaba'il al-'Arab (Damascus, 1949; Beirut, 1968-75) is a handy al-
phabetical guide to ancient and modern Arab tribes but should be
used critically. J. 'Ali's eight-volume Ta'rtkh al-'Arab qabl ai-Islam
(Baghdad, 1950-60), republished in ten volumes as al-Mufassal fi
ta'rtkh al-'Arab qabl ai-Islam (Beirut, 1971), is a major reference work
which compiles the information from Arabic literature and presents
it topically but with almost no interpretation. F. Altheim and R. Stiehl's
Die Araber in der alten Welt (Berlin, 1964-69) is based on both
classical and Arabic sources, but their emphases tend to be contro-
versial. J. Trimingham's Christianity among the Arabs in pre-Islamic